elemental warding?

[Merzbow]

Can anyone clarify what contributes to the ability of a character to ward off/mitigate the effects of spells like Call Wind, EWave, Boil Earth, and the like - i.e. spells that appear to have an elemental base but that are not bolt spells and don't result in a visible warding roll? Is there in fact an invisible warding roll, and if so, why are spirit spell warding rolls visible but elemental ones aren't? I'm speculating that defense spells like Elemental Bias (508) and Sign of Deflection help, but I'm not sure.

[Latrinsorm]

Call wind, ewave, and boil earth fall under the heading of "maneuver" spells. Because the mechanics are hidden, no one can really say what helps against them. Level, CM training, dodge training, action penalty, and crit padding have all been advanced as helpers, but nobody's publicized any rigorous research. It's probably not the case that TD or Bolt DS helps, anyway, and it's probably the case that level is a huge component. CM training is generally (a lot) lower on the totem pole than level, and action penalty is way lower.

[Merzbow]

Could strength be a helper as well? I know people have mentioned encumberance as a factor against Boil Earth specifically, which strength affects.

[Insodus]

Yes encumbrance hurts your ability to dodge manuever attacks. Biggest thing really is dodge skill, and level.

[Merzbow]

911 ftw I suppose, being a Wizard.

[StrayRogue]

Biggest thing really is dodge skill ...

Totally wrong.

[vontez]

is dodge even in consideration? I heard it wasn't yet, but they were going to implement it as one of the main considerations

[grenthor]

Totally wrong.

So what is a big help?

[Tolwynn]

Encumbrance definitely plays a big role in things, and from personal experience, armor or lack thereof made a big difference, too.

I went from doubles to robes, and went from getting boiled, webbed and spiked by critters 8 or more levels lower to easily avoiding boils and similar attacks from ones 5 levels higher. It's saved me a ton on deeds since.

[Fallen]

Encumbrance. This is the key factor, other than your characters position (Sitting prone suffer massive penalties for most menauver penalties) And levels.

Other definite factors are injuries and scars. Try to remain completely free of all wounds to increase your odds of dodging maneuvers attacks.

Other factors in maneuver attacks are your stats, Agility usually, but some attacks may look at other factors, your character's race, as some races have bonuses against maneuvers, and others have penalties.